Vertigo - Flower Shop Alley

Scottie follows Madeleine downtown to the rear entrance of a well-known flower shop, Podesta Baldocchi's. The rear entrance, in an alley, was a figment of Hitchcock's imagination since Podesta Baldocchi did not have one. This is an interesting scene in that two different alleys were used and cleverly edited to appear as one. Here's how it was done ...

adeleine turns from Grant into a tiny alley alongside the building housing the flowershop. Note the green Podesta Baldocchi vehicles on each side of the road.

... and Now, the alley is Ashburton, a short cul-de-sac across from Campton Place between Sutter and Post (location 1 on this map).

Then ... But when Scottie follows her into the alley, this isn't Ashburton - it's Claude Lane, several blocks away, which runs between Bush and Sutter near Kearny Street (location 2 on the same map). Scottie parks and watches Madeleine enter the rear entrance.

... and Now, Claude Lane today is usually a busy alley with restaurants and boutiques but CitySleuth stopped by on a holiday and found it deserted.

But as Scottie gets out of his car to follow her, this is back in Ashburton! That's Grant Avenue crossing behind him.

Then ... and when he follows her into the flower shop, we are back in Claude Lane. Another alley was presumably used because Ashburton, next to the flower shop, was a short cul-de-sac unsuitable for the rest of the action.

... in 2004... the first doorway on the left, below, by then bricked up, was the one used for Podesta Baldocchi's rear entrance. This was the back door of the business at 239 Kearny. Sutter Street crosses at the bottom of the alley.

... and Now, the trendy restaurant Gitane has been at this site since 2008. The colorful mural still reveals faint outlines of the originaldoorway and window openings. (The same drainpipe on the left is a frame of reference for comparing these last three images).